|
|
If you are among the 70 +
% of adults who have experienced back pain, this book will ring particularly
true. Dr Brownstein tells his own riveting personal story of experiencing
decades of agonizing back pain, including the graphic account of the surgery
he underwent, in which portions of the bone in his spine were cut away,
“thrown in the garbage can and muscle was sewn together to cover
the hole”. Here is a guy who has lived through hell and back and
has survived to tell the tale.
The author first experienced back pain while
lifting heavy loads as a summer job to help pay for his medical school.
Looking back he is candid about how stupid and macho he was as a young
adult, and about how much damage he did to his back during those years.
Following medical school he entered the
Air Force and was put on active duty as part of the conditions of the
military scholarship he had been awarded during medical school. In order
to cope with incapacitating back pain, he popped pain killers and used
every sort of paraphernalia around, including TENS and infra-red machines,
braces, hanging boots and massage balms.
The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s
back came when he went surfing in the Philippines during an acute phase
of back pain; this is what led to his surgery, leaving a huge hole in
his back.
Somehow, despite the pain, he refused medical
disability, managed to complete his military service, and finally sought
refuge in a yoga institute in India. Discarding his pain medication, he
describes how he plunged headlong into a “deep, dark cavern of hopelessness
and despair. Anybody who doesn’t think that pain can drive a person
to the depths of depression and despondency, to the point of contemplating
suicide, has never experienced true pain. It is pure hell, nothing less!
Over a period of some seven months, through
doing stretching, breathing and relaxation exercises, along with his own
eclectic practice of standing and lying on a large, flat rock in the middle
of a secluded rice field in the hot sun, he gain considerable insight
into the emotional, as well as physical factors behind his back pain.
The author became a student of guided imagery
(visualization), emotional healing, and was helped along his journey by
a wide array of practitioners, including cupuncturists, chiropractors,
osteopaths, massage therapists, yoga teachers, nutritionists and herbalists.
Dr Brownstein now runs a busy medical practice,
cycles, surfs, teaches yoga and leads a normal pain-free life.
In this book the author presents his Back-to-Life
Programme which concentrates on yoga-like stretches and meditative and
breathing exercises. The key to this process is to strengthen the back
muscles, since the origin of most back pain is weak, contracted or atrophied
muscles. One of the most insightful aspects of this book is the author’s
depiction of the mind/body connection in back pain, bringing in the understanding
that stress and strong emotions actually create nerve impulses of pain
which cause back muscles to contract, causing pain.
There are many excellent diagrams, outlining
the concepts of pain as a mind-body experience, as well as illustrating
the Phase 1 through III set of gentle stretches, designed to strengthen
the back and lessen pain.
The author’s next emphasis is on relaxation,
and acceptance of your pain, asking for help, not fighting, hating or
being angry. There is a multitude of wide-ranging advice, as well as numerous
meditations, breathing and visualization exercises. The author keeps to
the pragmatic, providing reassuring tips about how to return to work and
how to try to re discover the joy of living.
Several areas not covered in detail which
I feel deserve to play a more prominent role in any back pain recovery
scheme are the use of ice and heat, massage, and treatment by physical
therapists. Apart from these omissions, I give this book full marks for
wisdom, inspiration and correct advice, designed to help all back pain
sufferers.
|
